Netflix Social lets users show exactly how they spend nights on the couch

It's no longer illegal for Netflix to tell others what you've been watching.

Netflix has reintroduced social sharing features to its service as of Wednesday, the company announced on its blog. After adding a “friends” feature back in 2005 and then removing it in 2010, Netflix is readjusting to a new video sharing landscape that is no longer in the vise grip of the Video Privacy Protection Act, which prevented services like Netflix from integrating with ones like Facebook due to privacy violations.

The Video Privacy Protection Act long forbade video rental services from disclosing their customers’ rental history without explicit, physically written permission from the customer for every instance a share occurred. An amendment was made to the act in December 2012 that allowed this permission to be given over the Internet and to cover a period of time, up to two years, with as many shares as the provider or customer see fit to make in that time.

Now, Netflix users can connect their accounts to Facebook and share their viewings to friends. The sharing will occur only on Netflix, Netflix says, and it covers only items that friends have watched, not their queues. If users don’t want something shared socially, there is a “don’t share this” button in the player. Netflix states that all members will have access to the feature by the end of the week.

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We've had this in the UK from the outset - American laws are weird It's actually a useful feature - skimming through your Facebook feed and you see a friend just watched a show you were planning on watching so you ask what it's like, get a quick review from them etc.

It's not just about sharing what you've watched but about discovering other things you may not have seen. The Netflix apps have a 'recently watched by xxx' on them, which I presume you will soon be getting too, which is useful for discovering different things to watch eg "Oh, Billy-Bob Jimbo (which is what all Americans are called) just watched that show I really like, he also watched this other show - maybe I will like it too".

If you don't like the sharing aspect of it then simply don't connect your Facebook account. Me personally, I find it really helpful.

3 posts | registered Jun 9, 2010

Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston

I never linked netflix to facebook, when I still used it ("it" being fb). I did, however, feel annoyed that they disabled "watch with party" on the XBL client. I used it watch movies with my little brother while he was deployed in Afghanistan. For those who've never used it, it was a cool little overlay that had your xbl avatars sitting in a theatre. You could use the controller's face buttons to make them emote too. I loved that feature and miss it. Hopefully it makes a triumphant return.

Can we just divide the planet in half with separate internets, one half for extroverts, attention-whores, and narcissists with their beloved social media, and the other half for introverts with the stuff they like?

I never linked netflix to facebook, when I still used it ("it" being fb). I did, however, feel annoyed that they disabled "watch with party" on the XBL client. I used it watch movies with my little brother while he was deployed in Afghanistan. For those who've never used it, it was a cool little overlay that had your xbl avatars sitting in a theatre. You could use the controller's face buttons to make them emote too. I loved that feature and miss it. Hopefully it makes a triumphant return.

Okay, so now the question is "Why would any user of Netflix actually want this crap?" (we know why Netflix wants it, of course - more and more profiling data to sell to advertisers)

I don't want it, but others may. Some of my 'friends' post their jogging/bicycling routes on facebook, others post their kids grades; the list goes on. I'll bet others would do the same for their video viewing.

I have absolutely no inclination to share whatever I happen to be watching with anyone at all. No one must know of my addiction to Sister Wives. j/k - I honestly just don't care what other people watch.

If users don’t want something shared socially, there is a “don’t share this” button in the player.

Did I read that wrong? If we link the Netflix account to FB then it'll start sharing everything watched?! That sounds ... a bit much. A "Share this with your FB Friends" function might be nice enough for those really great movies but beyond that, forget it.

Supposedly the sharing only shows up in Netflix according to the article - but even if this is true initially I doubt it'll stay that way. Facebook has its talons in enough pies for now, I'm definitely going to pass.

I have absolutely no inclination to share whatever I happen to be watching with anyone at all. No one must know of my addiction to Sister Wives. j/k - I honestly just don't care what other people watch.

I noticed a year ago that I could see what my friends were watching on Netflix via my game console.

This "feature" has been available outside of the US for a while, at least up here in Canada. I have avoided it like the plague. My Netflix account gets used by numerous people in my house, and I don't want to take the credit/blame for everything they watch. The fact that they've ruined my recommendations list is bad enough.

Sometimes I don't even want to take the credit for things I HAVE watched. (I watched Jennifer's Body for the plot....honest).

Finally, enabling this feature is the quickest way for my Facebook friends to get removed from my news feed. I don't need to know everything you watch, and I really don't need to know everything your 3 year old watches.

Can we just divide the planet in half with separate internets, one half for extroverts, attention-whores, and narcissists with their beloved social media, and the other half for introverts with the stuff they like?

Can we just divide the planet in half with separate internets, one half for extroverts, attention-whores, and narcissists with their beloved social media, and the other half for introverts with the stuff they like?

*sigh* Must everything have a "share on Facebook" button? At least in the case of Netflix, people do genuinely talk about what they watch on TV an awful lot. Heaven forbid anyone chat around the water cooler when you can all stare at your phones and see what people did last night that way instead.

The trend to make everything social is really going over the top. My bank's web site prompts me for "bills other people in my area are paying" and any day now I expect to have to tell it not to post on Facebook that I just paid my electric bill.

We've had this in the UK from the outset - American laws are weird It's actually a useful feature - skimming through your Facebook feed and you see a friend just watched a show you were planning on watching so you ask what it's like, get a quick review from them etc.

It's not just about sharing what you've watched but about discovering other things you may not have seen. The Netflix apps have a 'recently watched by xxx' on them, which I presume you will soon be getting too, which is useful for discovering different things to watch eg "Oh, Billy-Bob Jimbo (which is what all Americans are called) just watched that show I really like, he also watched this other show - maybe I will like it too".

If you don't like the sharing aspect of it then simply don't connect your Facebook account. Me personally, I find it really helpful.

Now if only they can stop removing shows I want to watch or add something worth watching so that I'd have something to share instead of crappy History docs I've seen 10 times and Stargate spinoffs.

The streaming is beholden to the whims of the content owners. I gave up and went back to streaming + 2 DVDs out. The universal flat fee streaming service is a long way off. At least I can rip the DVDs.

We've had this in the UK from the outset - American laws are weird It's actually a useful feature - skimming through your Facebook feed and you see a friend just watched a show you were planning on watching so you ask what it's like, get a quick review from them etc.

Never heard of that happening in real life. Frankly, except for the games they personally play through Facebook, most everyone I know just skims and looks for photos & actual status updates, ignoring the rest of the crap (a couple of exceptions, though - both of whom are, to put it charitably, a little on the dim side).

Can we just divide the planet in half with separate internets, one half for extroverts, attention-whores, and narcissists with their beloved social media, and the other half for introverts with the stuff they like?

-- Grumpy Cat

Because we are way less than half of the population.

Yeah, but we provide their IT support. We'll be negotiating from a position of strength when Facebook servers crash from neglect and the extroverts need it fixed ASAP so they can upload more pics of their frat/sorority parties.

Plus, extroverts, being highly social, prefer to live in high-density populations and therefore require less territory for their needs. Introverts need acres of well-manicured land between neighbors, preferably with ponds, brooks, lonely trees, wildflower meadows and all the other things necessary for daydreaming and quiet contemplation. Oh, and pervasive wifi.

Okay, so now the question is "Why would any user of Netflix actually want this crap?" (we know why Netflix wants it, of course - more and more profiling data to sell to advertisers)

I don't want it, but others may. Some of my 'friends' post their jogging/bicycling routes on facebook, others post their kids grades; the list goes on. I'll bet others would do the same for their video viewing.

this is a great idea, lets post that we will not be home for the duration of our workout, and oh btw, this is the route i take so now everyone knows approx how long i will be gone for...

Okay, so now the question is "Why would any user of Netflix actually want this crap?" (we know why Netflix wants it, of course - more and more profiling data to sell to advertisers)

Do you have physical friends that also use Netflix? Do you have any similar tastes within that group? Just maybe, when your friend is watching a film, you might be interested in that film too, yet haven't seen it. Hence, this service works as a form of recommended titles via people you trust most.

As an example, I hate most of the generic horror flicks that IMDb recommends (supposedly, based upon my likes). Yet, between my three best friends and myself, Netflix is pretty accurate in suggestions based upon our rentals and streams. Not perfect by any means, but far better than using the general public as a measure of what I like. My horror tastes are far more extreme and indie based (aka -- I thought Hostel was PG-13 in the gore/torture/atmosphere department). IMHO, Eli Roth is a worthless punk compared to Joe D'amato.

Maybe I should be glad that "my" Netflix account was actually created by my wife, because the kids certainly do watch an embarrassing collection of cartoons (old and new) via Netflix on the AppleTV.

(But then again, I just recently started watching old Robotech reruns during my evening treadmill workouts; so I suppose I'm contributing my fair share to the cornucopia of confusing and embarrassing cartoons listed under that account, too... )